MY – #Lifeby STYLEZ #TheSweetSeries
You came, You saw
You Conquered!
But it was needed, wanted
I wasn’t subdued,
You surpassed!
Surpassed Expectations…
Surpassed Requirements…
Surpassed End Goals…
Surpassed What I Deserved…
Life is filled with surprises,
Little ones, big ones,
and You are that special one!
If it ends, I’ve already lived,
If you go, It’ll already be gone!
Life is nothing without,
Life is everything within,
Within You! Because of You!
You give me Life!
My Life!
I have known my wife, Alexis, for over 20 years, and in those years we have been friends, lovers, spouses, parents and now grandparents! But one thing has not changed in that time, I have always adored her and felt blessed to have her in my life! She has always been a beacon for my love and has always been a SWEET reminder that no matter what, we can do it, no matter what IT is! To express all the many feelings I have for my Sweet (my pet name for her), I have decided to write a series of poems and affirmations. I present to you… #TheSweetSeries
My Life,
My Love,
My Heart,
My Focus,
My Charity,
My Attitude,
My Solitude,
My Beginning,
My Happiness,
My Dedication,
My Revelation,
My Conscience,
My Inspiration,
My Intelligence,
Above all, is YOU!
MOMENTS IN BLACK HISTORY
1857
Richmond, Virginia, passes a comprehensive slave code that, among other stipulations, prohibits self-hiring by slaves, restricts blacks from entering certain parts of the city, specifies street etiquette, and forbids slaves from smoking, carrying canes, standing on the sidewalk, and using provocative language.
via Moments In Black History | Spoken Words & Thoughts
As you may well know, February 1st marks the start of a celebration and memorial of Black accomplishment throughout history. It was originally called "Negro History Week", when started in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson. Then in 1976, it was extended to a full month and renamed Black History Month, and is now recognized throughout the country as a time to remember and reflect. For 2014, I have decided not to focus only on well known civil rights leaders and groups. I have, instead, decided to dedicate my blog, to other Black people and newsmakers in history, lesser known events, little known facts and causes that have made an impact on the world, society and pop culture. I want to remember not only the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr. but also the impact of those like Ida Wells. Welcome to #TodayInBlackHistory on blog.AskWillieStylez.com! Today, Willie Stylez Remembers... Rick James and John Robinson!
On February 1st in 1948, a Super Freak was born! James Ambrose Johnson Jr. was born in Buffalo, New York, with music, and R&B royalty, already coursing through his vein, courtesy of his uncle Melvin Franklin of The Temptations. After forming several Rock, Soul and R&B bands, and serving as a staff songwriter for Motown Records, Rick James became a solo artist, in 1977. His 1978 debut, "Come Get It! (w/ the Stone city Band), released on the Motown imprint Gordy, included such classic hits as "You and I" and "Mary Jane". In 1981, Rick saw even greater success with his fifth studio album, "Street Songs", which turned out hits such as "Give It to Me, Baby" and "Super Freak"! It also featued a much loved duet with Teena Marie, "Fire and Desire".
After years of writing, touring and releasing music that was a "fusion of funk groove and rock attitude" Rick James succumbed to the perils of endless days, drugs, partying and even jail time. In 1997, while on a comeback tour, Rick suffered a stroke that kept him out of music, pretty much for good. However, he continued to see his music impact and form the foundation for many artists and millions of fans! Unfortunately, and much to soon, this "Whale" of a star, was found dead on August 6th in 2004, of an enlarged heart.
On February 1st in 1887, after waiting 7 years since filing, John Robinson of Coal Valley in West Virginia, was granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the invention of an improvement to the Dinner Pail! Mr. Robinson described this invention, as a "an improvement in dinnerpails for workmen; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices" to allow food and drink to be stored, kept warm and dispensed. Mr. Robinson is another in a long line of great Black inventors, who improved life and made things better for others around them.
1997 - BET Movie/Starz launches, becoming the first 24-hour Black movie channel
1990 - Ida Wells, a Black reformer who compiled records on lynching, is immortalized on a United States Postal Service stamp
1974 - "Good Times", a situation comedy starring an all-Black cast, premieres on CBS
1967 - Langston Hughes, poet, dies
1937 - Garrett Morris, actor and comedian, is born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1834 - Henry McNeal Turner, reverend and elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, Morris Brown College's First President and commissioned by President Abraham Lincoln as the first Negro Chaplain in the United States Army, was born. Read his amazing story of defiance and determination here, here and here.
"FIRST OFF! F**k Yo B**ch and the clique you claim…"You might say, “but that 2Pac verse was just pure violence!” Well, yes, yes it is! But actually it was (well, at least a little bit) more! The anger, emotion (and violence) that you hear in “Hit’em Up” is WHY it is the “Hardest Verse” (and song) ever written! That verse (and song) was so well written and callous about the lives and safety of the rappers that 2Pac called out, that it made you want to hate those rappers too! The song went on, for 3 or 4 more, hate filled verses, which included the rape and pillage of an entire staff, record label, crew and a bunch of other rappers and groups that 2Pac decisively and lyrically murdered! His disdain was so evident and poetically conveyed; it was indeed a turning point in rap music that we have never recovered from! No one, that I know of, with 2Pac’s status as a rap star, has ever had the audacity and tenacity to call out that many individuals, risking safety of his self and others!
Hit ‘Em Up by 2Pac
A Facebook (and real life) friend posted a topic recently about types of suspensions given out to kids when they are "being bad" or violating rules, etc. She jokingly related:
If I were in school, I would be elated to be suspended! Don't have to get up early or do in class assignments! Heck! Why not try to get suspended to have a legimate reason not to go to school???!!! LOL
But she has a point here, what is going through the mind of a kid when they're suspended!? What can schools do to curb or deter that WANT to be suspended attitude? Is there time for a change? This Is What STYLEZ Thinks!
My kids' school does both "no school" and "in shool"... they call it In-House strangely enough... style suspensions. It depends on the offense and number times the kid has violated certain offenses. But I do think the In-School suspension probably discourages the kids from thinking they are going to get away with chillin at the crib! But it still sucks because they don't do any work and they continue to fail their classes, so I don't think it's as effective as the teachers think. I think they should make it like a learning bootcamp. You go to In-School Suspension, you're away from your friends (or most of them, since I'm sure "that" crowd probably runs together) and then force them to do EXTRA work, projects, homework, etc! Now THAT would teach them!
I have a few kids at home that love school and In-School and Out-of-School suspensions would hurt them to their hearts. But I know, a couple of my kids and SO MANY kids at their school seemed to live for those "free days"! SMDH! I hated it and complained but it fell on deaf ears. So many administrators are still under that archaic notion that you need to remove the "bad element" to save the good. But they don't realize if you keep tellin a kid they're bad... then what do you think they're going to be!?
Not to say I don't agree in some instances... because I know I don't want drug dealers and gang members around my kids when they're supposed to be learning. But dang, you can't deny and deprive these kids of education, then they will just reville in their own stupdiity and continue down the same dead-end path they're own with no repurcussions in sight, until it's too late! I have tried to talk to my couple of wayward kids, and provide a good example of hard work! But hey, I'm just the parent, who they think "isn't cool like the entertainers/their friends/etc"! So it was a battle to keep them on the straight and narrow! But I feel so strongly about education that I don't any kid needs to be completely devoided of that chance to learn! That's Bad!
So, that is what Stylez thinks! What do you think!?
